SYNCING

My thoughts

Wednesday July 1, 2009

Song: Mockingbird By Rob Thomas
Mood: Happy
Time: 10:23am
Weather: Warm and very rainy

"You lose yourself for a minute or two as you stand under the bar lights and the band plays some song about forgetting yourself for awhile" - The Airborne Toxic Event

I pretty much have it great. This is definitely one of those moments where I feel really good about my life. It's not perfect by any means, but it's in a great place. Looking back on what I've accomplished in these past few months makes me proud of myself and left with a feeling of being very blessed in so many ways. I honestly don't even know where to begin to explain why I feel this way, but I will try my best to share with you my small happiness moments that make up my great feeling at this moment.

I know it's been awhile since I last blogged, but it's been super busy in my life. It's moments like these that I look back in my life when I was begging to have something to do. Now I am begging to have a day where I don't have to do anything. Funny how that works out.

So in the past few months, I have had the pleasure of hosting some of my favorite tours. I am so blessed in that way. I have no complaints. All of my tour parties/families have been so amazing! How did I get so lucky to have such a fun job? A lot of my amazing tours happened around the holidays. Even if I can't spend the holidays with my family, at least I have some amazing people to spend them with. A great family over Christmas (about four days), a double great tour including a great family and CK's crew, then AZ and fam over New Years. All in all, a pretty great holiday season. ESPN The Weekend was great times with Michael Kay, Don LeGreta and Jeff/Catie Francouer. I've also had the pleasure of hosting an amazing group, KOL after their show at UCF and heart their security guard - so much fun!

"well the time we spent it was precious to me, but all the while I was dreaming of relvery" - Kings of Leon

I did a TA at the beginning of the year from January through February helping to event coordinate a few events here at Disney, including AIE Premiere, RS and SH D&D. It was an incredible experience that I could never replace. Got to meet Michael Johns, whom I adore. Talked about The Rising with him. Good times! I was nomintated this year for Partners in Excellence at Disney, which is the highest honor you could possibly attain at Walt Disney World as a Cast Member. I was nominated by my fellow cast and it was a great honor just to be thought of.

I must say that this past Rock Boat "Niner" was probably one of the best in my experiences. I got to meet some amazing people, hang out with my yearly Rock Boat friends and introduce the boat to my newbie friends. Got to know some great new bands. I'm so fortunate to have found this amazing vacation opportunity that I take advantage of every year.

So this is my year for being re-acquainted with my past in many ways. Most of them in amazing ways. It's funny how life works out that way. A couple random occurances with good friends from years ago have somehow re-emerged in my life and I am thankful for that. Hopefully it lasts longer this time around. I think I might be growing up. It's a good thing. I think I'm finally understanding what people mean by saying "I wish I knew then, what I know now" That's a sure sign that I am growing up. *grin*

"I wanna fight with you. Make up tonight with you. You're much better. Now I've got some enemies and they're all friends suddenly. BFFs eternally. I'm not bitter." - Jonas Brothers

I've seen a crap-load of shows since the beginning of the year. Let's see if I can somehow highlight what I've experienced. My typical every-week experience with Dukes of Swagger, Matt Mackelcan (full band!), All the amazing Rock Boat shows 2009!, Jon McLaughlin, James Roquemore, Dirty Shannon, Christian Wilson & The Wayward, Plain Jane Automobile, Third Eye Blind, Sister Hazel, Thomas Wynn & The Believers, Tyrone Wells, Ernie Halter, Mark & James, Kipp Grange, Butch Walker, Matt Wertz, Michael Tolcher, Randall Shreve & The Sideshow, In Passing, Gary Pfaff & The Heartwells, Big 10-4, Mae, Mark Gaignard & The Also Ran, Tonic, Gin Blossoms, needtobreathe, David Cook, Thriving Ivory, Matt Nathanson, Jack's Mannequin (oh what an amazing night 1 of 2). Went to a random bar & grill and chilled with John from Nathanson and the Jack's boys. I heart Bobby for being amazing! Night #2 with them at Orlando HOB was filled with Raglin Road fun. Mikey, Carly, my crew, Jack's boys, Bobby! And more. Too bad I don't remember past the moment John gave me a clear liquid. Luckily that was later on in the evening. *grin* Tony Lucca, Ken Block (with Dan Verduin opening), Chris D'agnese & the Plain White T's with Days Difference.

I got to see an amazing show of Mikey Sanchez rocking the American Idol Experience and winning the Dream Pass to skip the line at an AI Audition anywhere in the country. AMAZING! He sang "Drops of Jupiter" and had the entire theater chanting his name.

I went with Austin to Enzian Theater in Winter Park and watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off on the big screen. Amazing! It was my first time to the theater and it was a very cool experience. We had warm, fresh out-of-the-oven chocolote chip cookies and Coronas. Good times. Robert Johnson works the bar there randomly so it was great to run into him and re-connect.

In May, had my favorite week of the year with the Florida Music Festival 2009! I volunteered again at Registration for the third year in a row. It was amazing, the best this year I think! Just keeps getting better! "Don't Stop Believin'" Thank you Brook! Liam and Me were one of my highlights, especially since I don't get to see them too often. Amazing band!

I had some pretty bad news hit my family recently. Was definitely a dark moment in my life. One of those moments where you never forget where you were when you were told. Enzian Theater to see Anvil. Or who you were with. ;) (Thank you, btw). And I still can't talk about it so I'll stop there.

Change the things that can be changed, accept those that cannot and have the wisdom to know the difference

"What did I do to your heart? What did I do to your heart? Did I break it apart? Did I break it, your heart?" - Jonas Brothers

In most recent events, I attended the Plain White T's show at The Social. Days Difference opened and were really good! PWT's were amazing, as usual! Ran into Duke and Heather beforehand. Dani, Jennie, Austin and myself had a grand time. Katie, Ryan, Dan and Kelly were there in attendance as well. From wrist star tats to The Lodge after-party, it definitely was a life highlight. Tom is pretty much amazing! One of the nicest guys on the planet. The Days Difference boys were pretty great dancers and some of the most fun! Perhaps too many beverages had? *grin* Pics were had. People danced. People sang. Friendships were made. All in all, one of the best nights!

You and me, we should be making a memory whenever we're together. Yeah, you and me, can't you see. We were meant to be, making a memory." - Plain White T's

Life has strange ways of happening. Lots of deaths as of late. One of which that has impacted my direct world the most, Michael Jackson. Maybe it's the fact that he was more well-known. Maybe it's the fact that he, musically, has connected the entire world. Maybe it's the fact that it felt like it came out of nowhere. Not that many people's deaths are more planned, but it didn't seem very likely to be this soon in his life. Either way, I'm saddened by it.

I'm starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to change his ways" - Michael Jackson

On a happy note, lots of new and great music in my world. Ones I would like to highlight: Rob Thomas - Cradlesong "Mockingbird" & "Someday" Jonas Brothers - Lines, Vines & Trying Times "Much Better" & "What did I do to your heart?" The Airborne Toxic Event - "Sometime After Midnight"

posted by Carolyn Ohme at 11:59PM

Monday December 15, 2008

Song: Morning Comes By Christian Wilson
Mood: Fortunate
Time: 6:36pm
Weather: Unseasonably Warm Unfortunately

"I don't believe the good things in life should have to come with a price
They should come easily or at least the implication is nice
All alone in the night lost in the endless sky
Escaping history, some things belong in mysteries"
-Christian Wilson "Morning Comes"

Last time I wrote it was almost Thanksgiving. I was fortunate enough to have a great and short tour on the day of thanks so I was able to attend the Thanksgiving dinner occurring at my house. Happiness. We had an intimate group of good friends come by and share the holiday with us. We knew most of our friends would be celebrating with their family, however we have a very open door policy to anyone who is orphaned like us on the actual holiday. Jacob (our neighbor), Robbie Clay and Cathy Lee, Jennie, Julie and myself enjoyed a feast made by none other than our Chef Jennie. It was delish. Jennie's turkey was better than I think I've ever had. No offense momma, but Jennie studies and lives by the Food Network. Ha!

The following day, I had an expected tour of 26 people. It was only suppose to be 10. Kinda threw us for a shock, however we recovered and was able to do the tour with additional tour guides. It went really well, surprisingly enough and the group turned out to be pretty amazing people after the confusion and randomness of them all at the beginning. Once we got the message across that if we are gonna do this, we are gonna do this together and we need to all stay together, otherwise this won't work as efficient as it could. They got the message and rocked it! Of course, it would not have been as successful without the amazing Irvine and Tom F-O-X. My amazing co-tour guides!

Saturday was my happy moment. Every time I have any day where I'm kinda tired or not really in the "mood" to do a tour, I always go to my happy moment in my mind and it makes me smile. My happy moment came back. Three consecutive years, same day, same bat channel. *grin* I was fortunate again to host this family and make additional magical moments for them and for me. Hard to explain, but they are just such amazing people that it makes my day just as great! I had a blast. Whenever they come, it's my first experience of the year to watch the Osborne's Spectacle of Dancin Lights, which always gets me into the Christmas mood hardcore. This year we were also able to experience Illuminations:Reflections of Earth for the first time together. Also, we squeezed in a bit of the Spectro Magic Parade at MK and finally got to see the Castle with all 200,000 lights beaming (whew! Waited a year to show them that!). One word. Magical. That's all.

Welcome to December and wow is this month flying by so quickly. I brought Julie, Jennie and Austin to the parks to experience a quick review of 3/4 parks. Mostly I wanted Jennie to experience the Kilmanjaro Safari. She had told me she had wanted to do one, so I wanted to make one wish come true for her at least. We met up at Downtown Disney and quickly raced to DAK before it closed. We were one of the last people to board the safari attraction. Whew. Close call, but kudos to Julie, Jennie and Austin who had to keep up with me. *grin* They didn't hate me too much cause the safari was awe-some! (In the words of Rhino!) *grin*. We had no wait for Everest so we rode that and it was amazing! Headed out to Disney's Hollywood Studios for an entertaining tram ride, then to eat a bite and watch the Lights. Austin and Jennie rode Tower of Terror while Julie and I shopped and found some awesome mugs. We then rushed to Epcot for Illuminations and some treats. All in all, it was a fun and quick trip. The kind I can handle when I'm not working. *grin*

Had a gentleman and his girlfriend on tour. Most of the time I felt like a third wheel, however they were super nice and it was a pretty productive and entertaining day. It was also a long day. And pretty draining mentally. I felt like every inch of me was aching the next day. Not sure exactly why, but was just an altogether exhausting tour. Perhaps it was just accumulation of everything going on in my life that affected me so much at that time. Who knows? Nonetheless, I got through it and have since recovered. *wink*

Saw the Dukes at Caseys and ordered and re-ordered a bit too much that night. Way too magical of a night for Carolyn. Julie was celebrating her end of Law Exams with some friends including some old friends of mine. One of them shared with me that basically he no longer believes in music. Music is one of the *only* things I believe in. Is this person telling me the thing I believe in doesn't exist to believe in or isn't worth believing it. My heart hurt. My eyes showed it. He had gotten burned and was bitter apparently. Decided to peace out again without telling anyone. I tend to do that. "She's always leavin without saying goodbye/she knows I never get mad." See Christian knows how I roll. I texted Austin to finish my drink (on my way home). When I got home, I texted Troy to see if he was ready to move the couches.Troy and I hugged it out. Thankfully, he still believes in music too. He revived my heart. Also thanks to Troy, I bought our friends couch and loveseat. YAY for furniture FINALLY! Jacob had helped me get a free coffee table from work peeps (thanks Lauren and Trent) so now we have a living room. Only took five months. Totally appreciate it now though.

Been touring a lot lately, can you tell? Took a night off to see Chris D'Agnese at Caseys with the crew. It was Jennie, Julie, Austin and myself. Dan and Matt showed up randomly. Ran into Tommy Hey-ya, which was very "small world". I love that about Orlando. I love going somewhere and just seeing people I know without planning on it. Makes you feel like you belong. That you are at home. I kinda dig it. Was great to see C D'Agnese and meet his friends from Austin. We met Adam, who is an amazing artist himself and has been assisting Chris in touring together. They were a great duo!

Had a couple of pretty easy going tours and not too stressful so that was pleasant! One of them was a heart-wrenching one. It's amazing how certain experiences can throw you into such a moment of gratitude for healthiness, happiness and family. One of my tours did just that for me. I teared up in certain circumstances the entire day. It was a hard tour to get through just because of the challenges, however it was a most gracious tour and I was glad to be apart of it.

Was a fielder in the office for the first time in what felt like months. Got into the swing of things pretty quickly. Just like riding a bike. Wasn't very busy, however did have some interesting calls for tours. Entertaining and kept me pretty productive the entire day. Rushed home to get ready for our CCMaD Show at Central Station Rock Bar. This was our first experience and opportunity to book at a downtown Orlando venue and we were ready, stoked and nervous about it. The only major setback to having our show this night, December 12th, was that Big 10-4 just happened to be hosting their big CD Release party at The Social feat. Brian Malpass *and* In Passing. So basically, all of our friends. All of our friends playing and all of our friends going to support, which led us to a fun little hump to somehow get over. Why didn't we book a different night? Only night offered to us from the venue. We had to take it. And we made it work, as best we could. Dirty Shannon (LOVE those boys!) opened for us and brought a crap-load of people. They were amazing at promoting! I can definitely see their growth from the last time we hosted them. So proud! James Roquemore, an amazing singer/songwriter/musician whom I just adore, graced us with his talents and Vic from Dirty Shannon was highly impressed with his voice. He sang a great version of "Oh Holy Night" to bring some holiday cheer at the end of his set and it was delightful. Robbie Hazen closed out the night with great entertainment. He was humorous and amazing playing what the crowd wanted as well as his upbeat originals. By that time, most of the crowd had teetered out unfortunately, but he did keep some drinkers there. I know it was hard to book on the same night as Big 10-4 and also it being a chilly night, but we did okay for our first try at this particular venue. Lessons learned and we move forward.

PS. We did have a LOT of our good friends come and visit to support Dirty Shannon/CCMaD before going to Big 10-4. Thank you for those of you who did. Meant more than you know.

PPS. Big 10-4's new album is amazing. I think my current favorite right now is "Vulnerable".

"Well I bet the rent that you're gonna feed me your two cents
Bottom lines and good advice, words from the wise, you've always got to lend
And we'll find us some magazines or movie screens, we can be the story of the week

I never asked you what you're gonna do. I never asked you for your point of view.
You leave me screamin', You don't know cause you're not there at night

When she finds me in the dark and she wraps her arms around me
When it's so warm, but so cold on those nights
When I wake up all alone and I need that soul surrounding
When I'm over-exposed
You leave me vulnerable"
-Big 10-4 "Vulnerable"

Slept in a bit before heading to celebrate Adyn's 1st Birthday! Cali had a wondrous Safari Adventure planned out with maps to stations throughout her entire backyard, amazingly detailed decorations, etc. She went all out and had quite a few attendees. It was super fun to watch the kids (and parents) be entertained. G painted a star tattoo on my wrist that was pretty rockstar. I was impressed. We started a trend and soon all the kids wanted to be "tattooed". We have now began their addiction. Ha! Adyn was pretty great and took all the people, attention, etc like a champ! That kid impresses me to the fullest. I would have been crying by the time five people got there. *grin*

After the "kid" party, I wanted to attend an "adult" party so we headed to Wall Street. Julie, Austin, Tara, Liz, Amanda and James, Kasey and Brad, Danielle and Jenna, Aton and Danielle, Bill, new friends, etc hung out with the Dukes of Swagger in the freezing cold and had a blast! Christian and I were "twins". I was wearing a stripped grey and black shirt and he had on a hoodie that was *way* too similar. We had a photo shoot. My favorite part was when he actually parted his hair to try and match mine. Ha! I don't remember much of the late evening/early morning, but apparently everyone else did and reminded me of a few things. I think perhaps I danced too much? And apparently I made it an issue to say goodbye to everyone this night, which is very unlike "disappearing" Carolyn. *grin* Whatev.good times with good friends. I needed it. It had been too long. Yeah. Like a week. *giggle* A week too long.

Got up on Sunday regretting Saturday. Ate chips and salsa for breakfast around 11ish. Not the healthiest idea, but it did it's job. Got prepared for our Holiday Family Gathering. This was the second annual holiday dinner we have put together for our friends to come and celebrate good friends, good food and good times with us before the actual holiday so more people could attend. We had a pretty great turnout. Lots of additional things were apparently going on, however we had a great time with the wonderful people who could attend. Cali and Tony brought Adyn, Cfloyd, Christian and his friend Dwight, neighbors Jacob and Aaron, Nick (who still hasn't moved away - yay!), Jennie, Julie and Austin of course & Tara. It was random and great times. We had carbs coming out of our ears, but some salad and veggies through it off scale a bit, which was helpful! Jacob hung up lights in the backyard and made a fire pit next to our "outdoor Charlie Brown Christmas Tree". It was so great! I'm kinda in love with our backyard right now. Jennie and I decorated the inside with subtle reds with candles, linens, etc. It looked pretty magical. Jacob is letting us borrow his end table while his Christmas Tree is taking up extra room in his house, so we had that with their poinsettia on it. I loved the way we "fancied" our so not fancy place.

Today is actually Adyn's bday.so HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADYN!

This week holds many excitements for me. I am only working two days this week (yep, today counts as one.whoo hoo) then heading home to the ATL for an early Christmas celebration. My family is doing it early specifically so I can share it with them. A few members will be missing (West Coasters) and I hope they all know how much they will be missed. My bro's bday is this week. Whoo hoo! I'm so happy I get to share it with him, even if I am miles and miles away. My heart will be thinking of him regardless.

I know this happens every year around this time. Probably even more so this year, but I'm noticing the money issues are accumulating yet again. Don't get me wrong. I'm completely and in every way blessed. I have a job that I happen to love. I love where I live. I have great friends. Amazing family. I can't say it enough. But at the same time, it's tight. Added things to worry about. Lance has been having start up issues and that's not cool. It reminds me of Rhonda and I do not want to go down that road again. Ah well. Life works out. Somehow. *grin* You know it's bad when I start trying to figure out what I can sell on Ebay so I can pay for the new AAR album coming out this week. HA! Is it wrong that I'd rather have music than eat. Sorry, had to make a bad joke.

So that's my current update. Wow, I kinda wrote a novel. Means I don't have to write again for awhile, right? Ha. Nah. I need to get back into this..so I actually remember what happened in my life as I get older.

"I've been reading all the letters that you wrote me
all the fairy tales you sold me and all the pretty things you said...
I've been sleeping in the place that you left me, do you regret me? Did you forget me?
Can't stop thinkin about the way you control me, now you wish you'd never known me
how I wish you'd come and hold me"
-Tony Lucca "Pretty Things"